Steve Ott Traded To Montreal Canadiens

DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 21: Detroit Red Wings forward Steve Ott (29) skates with the puck during the second period of a regular season NHL hockey game between the New York Islanders and the Detroit Red Wings on February 21, 2017, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. New York leads Detroit 2-1. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Selling for the first time in a quarter century, the Detroit Red Wings were able attract a team looking for “grit” and “jam” to their team come playoff time. They have traded Steve Ott to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2018 sixth round pick.

The trade has come at quite a surprise with the fact that the 34-year old has scored six goals in his last 164 games, being a terrible possession player posting a 44.8% Corsi-for percentage in 42 games. However, his cap hit is livable at $800,000 with an expiring contract July 1st, bringing all the intangibles the Canadiens can handle.

For the playoffs, Ott brings 55 postseason contests of experience including two runs to the Western Conference Final, the latest being last season with the Blues. This season, he has logged some penalty killing time on Doug Houda‘s unit as well. However, among players that have logged at least 50 penalty minutes, he ranks 21st-worst in the league in Fenwick-against per 60 while shorthanded on the ice (78.06).

Ott is coming off of a season that was challenging in its own right, missing significant time due to an ugly injury suffered in December 2015. His story of recovery inspired captain David Backes in a memorable post-game scrum after they were eliminated citing that he came out of the lineup for Backes to play what would be his final game as a Blue.

Over his career, Ott has been able to get under the skin of many opponents and has made a living sticking in the league for 837 games, totaling 1538 penalty minutes in addition to 109 goals and 287 points. His prime years came from 2008-2012, when he actually was a big contributor for the Dallas Stars, having three years of 35+ points and 10+ goals each season in the span, topping out at 22 goals in ’09-10 and 46 points in 2008-09.